Rotterdam to open with Greek drama Wasted Youth

Greek drama Wasted Youth will open the 40th International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), as a world premiere also in the festival’s Tiger Awards Competition.

The film is co-directed by Argyris Papadimitropoulos and Jan Vogel.

They will attend opening night along with the film’s producers and cast members Haris Markou, Ieronimos Kaletsanos, Arthouros Kiviliof, Jason Wastor and Themis Bazaka.

Wasted Youth is set during a hot summer day in contemporary Athens, about the intersecting lives of a 16-year-old skateboarder and his friends and a stressed-out middle-aged man.

The film was shot documentary style with a small crew. Producers are Papadimitropoulos and George Karnavas and Konstantinos Kontovrakis executive produced.

Rutger Wolfson, director of IFFR said: “Wasted Youth convinces from the very first moment until the very last second. As a ‘rough guide’ to today’s Athens, but also through two main characters, whose psychology and problems are completely real. Wasted Youth gives a subtle impression of the relationships between citizens and authorities, between individual freedoms and economic realities. Seemingly without effort, the filmmakers hold the audience’s attention throughout this stylish, gripping drama.”

Both directors have worked in commercials. Papadimitropoulos previously made the feature Bank Bang, Vogel makes his feature debut with Wasted Youth.

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